Millard Fillmore GOODALE

GOODALE, COFFMAN, WILSON, WRIGHT

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 12/23/2010 at 20:56:54

MILLARD FILLMORE GOODALE

Excerpt from GOODALE Family by Lyman E. WILSON

[Millard Fillmore GOODALE, son of Joel Horatio and Mary Elizabeth (COFFMAN) GOODALE, was born November 23, 1854, Lawn Ridge, Illinois.]

Millard GOODALE married Alice E. WILSON in 1881, they had four children, then Alice died in 1889.

[Alice Elzena WILSON, daughter of George Washington & Elizabeth (WRIGHT) WILSON, was born in Union County, Iowa, October 20, 1860 and died at the age of 28 years on March 2, 1889, Afton, Iowa.]

Millard moved to Shannon City, Iowa with the children and with the help of his sister sent them to school. While in Shannon City, Millard had a butcher shop and worked in a blacksmith shop. With others, he built one of the first "Merry-Go-Rounds." It was built of wood and was run by a horse going around a track. They took it to the Iowa State Fair about 1895.

He later moved to Creston, Iowa, where he was a house mover. Houses were moved by horses winding up a cable on a drum. Wooden rollers were used under the house on planks to make the house move easier.

From Creston, he moved to Holdrege, Nebraska, where he rented a farm and raised wheat and corn. He also moved houses there. They were loaded on three large trucks, made from threshing machine gears and pulled by a large steam engine. As roads were level and only a few bridges, he could travel as fast as the engine could run.

When Millard left Holdrege, he was with his daughter, Violet on her fruit farm near Oregon City, Oregon. They raised and sold strawberries, logan berries and prunes. He was there until his death on October 23, 1938. His body was cremated and his ashes brought to Tingley, Iowa, where they were buried [Tingley Cemetery].

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, December of 2010